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So, whats the 411 on linux
if i have XP, cna i set it up so i can swithch between the two OS's easily?
will it eat my hard drive?
what makes it so special?
what is this partition i hear about?
is it better than windows, or id it made to do dofferent things?
is it worth having in teh end?
all i kno about linux is a pengiun and a red hat,

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if i have XP, can i set it up so i can switch between the two OS's easily?

Well, it is possible to set up both operating systems on separate partitions, but only if you really know what you're doing. (I have tried configuring a dual-OS box similar to what you want to do twice, and both times I ended up overwriting the Windows OS, but these failures were probably due to hardware constraints.) Check the system requirements of both OS's and then make sure that your computer can handle giving about half of its hard drive to a linux filesystem.

what makes it so special?

Well, first of all, Linux is open source software. (Translation: IT'S FREE.) The big caveat? Because it's free, it's not perfect. The programs used (particularly in the GUI, that is, the graphical interface) are from all over the place, and these programs may have bugs in them (although at this point most of the bugs have been sorted out.) Also, Linux is considerably less user friendly than Windows or Macintosh. By this, I mean that the dialog boxes and tooltips in windows that tell you that you should get the latest updates from the internet for your programs are either non-existent or considerably less obnoxious. (Some people hate this, some people love it. I fall under the latter category.) Linux (at least Red Hat, and I'm pretty sure that this is true of most of the other Linux systems available) also comes standard with a vast array of programming compilers. Finally, linux has an extensive library of terminal and shell commands that allow a user to perform basic edits of almost any file should the GUI fail.

is it worth having in the end?

If you're looking for an OS to do programming work, sure. If you'd like to waste time playing simple games, there's an extensive library of those. If you're running a server-like computer for a home/small business network, sure. But if you're going to use it for office work (word processing, spreadsheets, etc.), be careful. Make sure that whatever file format you use is compatible with all computers. .doc and .xls are compatible in OpenOffice, SunOffice, and of course Microsoft Office. But the defaults for OpenOffice and SunOffice (.sx_) are not currently compatible with MSO, and MSO2007's file format (.docx, .xlsx, .etcx.) is not compatible with the other systems either. Further, if you are trying to share files within a network, you have a large challenge ahead of you (I have been at this task for a year and a half and nothing has come of it.)

Hay there toshibauserI'm somewhat new to linux , I only use "Live CDs" but I luv it so far. Un-like windows you can find a version of LInux to suit you to a "T" porbably if you look and try all the different "flavors" out there. Most of them are free to download and the Live Cds don't need to use the Hard drive at all, just pop a cd in and start it up, no need to install it unless you want to (I'd wait to see if you like it first) Plus running in Memory only it's about as safe as you can get. I use Damn Small Linux(3.0.1) it does everything I need it to do, it has Firefox and E-mail ,also most extensions for Ff work as well (unless noted)

Thats not entirely true, generally it is free But you don't get direct support from the provider of the Distro.whereas If you pay for it you'll be entitled to support from the provider of the Distro.Which means You Don't have to pay to use you PC unlike certian other OS's

what is this partition i hear about?

Basicly a Partition is Where any OS is installed to on the HD the size can be set by the user during the installation process.In this instance My 40GB HDD is divided into several partitions (The Blue partition is Windows)

There is also the benifit of being able to surf the net without fear of spyware/virii as most of thse rely on .EXE's which linux doesn't

is it worth having in teh end?

Its definatly worth TRYING put it taht way.

You could as no one says use Live Disks (These are however Slow to load as the are being read from CD/DVD so bear that in mind before you say its Slow )If you have 8GB+ free space on HDD it may be worth trying an installed Distro

Hay there toshibauserI'm somewhat new to linux , I only use "Live CDs" but I luv it so far. Un-like windows you can find a version of LInux to suit you to a "T" porbably if you look and try all the different "flavors" out there. Most of them are free to download and the Live Cds don't need to use the Hard drive at all, just pop a cd in and start it up, no need to install it unless you want to (I'd wait to see if you like it first) Plus running in Memory only it's about as safe as you can get. I use Damn Small Linux(3.0.1) it does everything I need it to do, it has Firefox and E-mail ,also most extensions for Ff work as well (unless noted)

so i can save one of the linux downloads to a disk, and run it off that, and decide if i like it from thereand for a partition, at startup, can i choose wich onei no linux probobly has some pluses, but my computer is mainly used for photoshop, gimp, blender, etc.and for highschool.

Sorry, have never used Photoshop ,Gimp or Blender( no want or need ) but, it looks like both Gimp and Blender are already Open Source and might be included on some of the larger distros . Hope you have access to Broadband or your downloads could be rather time comsuming, I just download the ISO files and then used nero in windows to burn them as a image to Cd. if I can figure it out I'm sure most can.

"Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts."

"Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster"

Nero is software for Burning (copying) files to CD might i suggest an alternative and possibly easier solution, Purchase a Copy of Linux Format or a magazine of that ilk most of them have Live Distro's on the Cover DVD Your newsagent may put it in a brown paper bag for you too

^^i kno that was very precise and informal, but i did not follow that, i have a CD burning software already, so i just have to find out where mandravia can be downloaded at, burn it to a cd, turn of computer, put in CD, turn it on, boom, there we go?

You could as no one says use Live Disks [/color](These are however Slow to load as the are being read from CD/DVD so bear that in mind before you say its Slow )If you have 8GB+ free space on HDD it may be worth trying an installed Distro [/quote]

i have toshiba laptop with an 80 gig harddrive al to myself, im 14, ill never use it all, lol. So..i am game for the partition, is their by chance a tutorial?, ans sorry for the liek two posts in a row there.

There is also the benifit of being able to surf the net without fear of spyware/virii as most of thse rely on .EXE's which linux doesn't

Don't become too complacent.Those times, are a changing.You may not be as safe as you think you are.

Linux has a case of worms, too; the number of malicious programs targeting that OS doubled between 2004 and 2005. Rootkits, the looming threat for Windows PCs, actually trace back to attacks meant to take surreptitious control of the administrative "root" user on Unix OSes. Also, while being able to run your own personal Web server is part of the open-source draw, doing so can allow crooks to hijack your site or take control of your PC.